O

Observe

Iⁿ

the many literal lives imagination allows an idea to inhabit

U

Understand

C

Create

R′

the new reality created by the build

O′

observation of the changed reality

The lives are literal alternate existences of the idea — different interpretations, designs, scales, applications, failures, experiences, futures, and universes. Thirty is the canonical baseline; the working count may expand when the problem demands more lives.